Habitat and Ecology:

Range: Virginia; south to Florida; west to Texas; in Mississippi, reported by the NRCS Plants Database in the counties of Washington, Hinds, Copiah, Adams, Amite, Wilkinson, Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson

Wildlife Value and Uses: acorns important food source for northern bobwhite, mallard, sap- suckers, wild turkey, black bear, squirrel, and white-tailed deer; provides cover for birds and mammals; rounded clumps of ball moss found in live oak used for nestconstruction

Timber Value and Uses: heavy, strong wood; of little use commercially although suitable for construction; excellent species for reforestation to prevent soil erosion; originally cleared for agriculture; potential for revegetating coal mine spoils.

Landscaping Info: used for shade and as an ornamental; fast growing if well watered and soil conditions are good; 4 feet in the first year; extremely hard to kill because it sprouts vigorously from the root collar; susceptible to freezing temperatures and acid rain

Other Facts: first publicly owned forestland at the end of the eighteenth century was for the purpose of preserving the supply of southern live oak for the Navy’s shipbuilding needs; considered "one of the noblest trees in the world and virtually an emblem of the Old South"; protected today for publicenjoyment

Leland Cypress

Cupressus × leylandii

American Sycamore (Moon Tree)

Southern Magnolia

Green Ash

Bald cypress

Willow Oak

Ginkgo

Southern Pecan

Yellow Poplar

Sweetbay magnolia

Common fig

Saucer magnolia

Japanese maple

Ginkgo (Melting tree)

Slash pine

slash pinePinus elliottii Engelm.Family: Pinaceae

Habitat and Ecology:

Range: grows naturally from Georgetown County, SC, south to central Florida, and west to Tangipahoa Parish, LA; native range includes the lower Coastal Plain, part of the middle Coastal Plain, and the hills of south Georgia; established (by planting) as far north as Tennessee, in north central Georgia, and Alabama; planted and direct-seeded in Louisiana and eastern Texas where it now reproduces naturally; in Mississippi, reported by the NRCS Plants Database primarily in the coastal counties.

Identification

Needles:

Type: 2-3 per fascicle; evergreen; persistent for 2 seasons

Size: 7.0” - 12.0” long; fascicle sheaths 0.5” - 0.75” long

Color: dark green

Characteristics: shiny; short; stiff; straight

Twigs:

Size: stout

Color: light orange-brown

Characteristics: rough; ridged by compact arrangement of needles and scales

Uses Wildlife Value and Uses: seeds are an excellent food source for gray and fox squirrel and wild turkey; dense foliage provides protective cover for many wildlife species during inclement weather

Timber Value and Uses: major source of naval stores ( turpentine, and rosin); used for a variety of other purpose including poles, railroad ties, and pilings; planted to stabilize the soil on eroding slopes and strip mine spoil banks, where its rapid early growth is an advantage over slower growing species

Landscaping Info: adaptable to a variety of site and topographic conditions, but grows best on pond margins and in drainages where soil moisture is ample but not excessive and the soil is well aerated; a number of cultivars and improved materials are available

Other Facts:The naval stores industry is one of the oldest in the United States, and has supplied a large portion of the resin and turpentine used throughout the world since colonial times. In many early forests, gum was the primary and sometimes the only product harvested.